Plastic anchor member



Jan. 9, 1962 United States Patent C) 3,015,869 PLASTIC ANCHOR MEMBERGeorge M. Rapata, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Illinois Tool Works,Chicago, III., a corporation of Illinois Original application Aug. 11,1954, Ser. No. 449,092, now

Patent No. 2,836,215, dated May 27, 1958. Divided and this applicationMay 23, 1958, Ser. No. 737,369

9 Claims. (Cl. 24-213) The present invention relates to novel fastenersand .more particularly, to novel fasteners or anchor members for use insecuring a workpiece to an apertured panel. This is a division of mycopending application, Serial No. 449,092, filed August 11, 1954, nowPatent No. 2,836,215, dated May 27, 1958.

The present invention contemplates a novel one piece plastic fastener oranchor member which is preferably made by a moulding process. Suchheretofore known plastic fasteners have usually been adapted for useonly with panels having apertures thereinof a specific size and, inaddition, such heretofore known fasteners have often required rathercomplicated moulds or dies so that manufacturing costs are unnecessarilyhigh.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a novel onepiece plastic fastener member which is adapted to be assembled throughapertures of various sizes in panel members and to be securely retainedin assembled relationship with such panel members.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel fastenermember of the type set forth in the preceding paragraph, which novelfastener member is formed so as to prevent lateral shifting Withinlarger apertures or openings through which it may be assembled.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a novelo e piece plastic fastener member which may be economically manufacturedby utilizing relatively simple split die means.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel onepiece plastic fastener member of the above described type which isadapted to receive and lock a complementary fastener member such as ascrew.

A further object of the presentinventionis to provide a novel one pieceplastic fastener member which" is adapted to clamp or retain variousworkpieces such as a moulding strip or an electric cable in assembledrelationship with an apertured panel.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIG. 1 is' a perspective view showing a device constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1 andfurther showing the fastener member assembled with an apertured panel;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view showing a fastener member embodying amodified form of the present invention assembled with an apertured paneland clamping a workpiece such as an electric cable to the panel;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a further modified form of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing another modified form of anovel fastener member adapted to clamp or retain a cable; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a fastener member similar to thefastener member shown in FIG. 1 and incorporating a furthermodification.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings Wherein like parts aredesignated by the same numerals throughout the various figures, afastener member 20 embodying one form of the present invention is shownin FIGS. 1 and 2. The fastener member 20 as well as the otherembodiments of this invention to be described below, is made of asuitable plastic material which may be flexed or deformed and which iscapable of resiliency returning to its original condition before suchflexing. The fastener member 20 is formed in one piece and includes ahead portion 22 and a shank portion 24.

The shank 24 includes a central portion 30 extending axially from thehead 22 for insertion through an aperture or opening 32 in a panel 34.Adjacent the free or entering end of the shank oppositely disposedflexible wing members 36 and 38 are integrally joined to opposite sidesof the central shank portion 30. The wing members 38 and 36 extend backtoward the head end of the fastener member and are flared outwardly soas to provide spaces or slots 40 and 42, respectively, between the wingmembers 36 and 38 and the central shank portion 30. The wing member 36is provided with a shoulder 44 adjacent its free end for engaging theback surfaces of the panel and the wing member 38 is provided with asimilar shoulder 46. As'will be understood, these shoulders cooperatewith head portion 22 for clamping the apertured panel and retaining thefastener member in assembled relationship with the panel.

Preferably, the shoulders 44 and 46 are inclined slightly at an angle tothe axis of the fastener member and extend upwardly and outwardly sothat when the shoulders are drawn tightly against the panel as shown inFIG. 2, the wing members are flared outwardly. As a result, the inherentresiliency of the wing members urges them inwardly or back to theiroriginal positions so that the wing members acting against the panel areresiliently main-' tained under compression and, in turn, tend tomaintain the central shank portion 30 under tension.

The head portion 22 includes a relatively broad base 98 and an overlyingclamping section 100 adapted to retain workpieces such as cables and thelike joined to the base by a reversely bent section 102 so that the headis generally U shaped in cross section and is adapted to receive andretain various workpieces. Preferably, the clamping section 100 isformed inwardly toward the base as at 104 to provide a restricted mouthor opening 106 through which a workpiece may be snapped. The free end ofthe clamping section 100 is preferably flared outwardly as at 108 tofacilitate assembly of the workpiece between the clamping section andthe base.

The head portion 22 also includes an axially extending abutment portion110 which is adapted to project into the panel aperture. The peripheryof the abutment portion 110 preferably is substantially identical insize and shape to the size and shape of the panel aperture so that theabutment portion serves to locate the fastener within the aperture andalso serves to absorb any shear stresses applied to the fastener.

'In FIG. 3 there is shown a fastener member 20 which is similar to theembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 as indicated by the application of identicalreference numerals with the suffix f added to corresponding elementsexcept with the head portion 22 is modified. More specifically, the headportion 22 is provided with a pair of flexible clamping sections 112 and114 which extend in opposite directions and are adapted to overlietheapertured panel 34 Both of these clamping sections are formed so thatthey initially extend outwardly from the central head portion and theninwardly so that when the fastener member is applied to the panel, theclamping sections respectively provide restricted openings .116 and 118in cooperation with the panel, through which openings workpieces such asan electric cable 120 may be snapped. In order to facilitate outwardflexing of the clamping sections 112 and 114 during assembly therewithof a workpiece, the free ends of these sections are respectively flaredoutwardly as at 3 122 and 124. It will be appreciated that the clampingsections of the fastener member 20) might also be used for securingother workpieces than cables such, for example, as moulding strips, notshown, to the apertured panel.

FIG. 4 shows a fastener member 20g which is a modified form of the abovedescribed fastener member 20 as indicated by the application tocorresponding elements of identical reference numerals with the suffix gadded or substituted. This embodiment differs in that one of theflexible wing members of the shank has been eliminated by making itsolid with the central shank portion and a shoulder 126 has beenprovided in the now solid shank portion to take the place of the end ofthe omitted flexible wing member. For some installations thismodification simplifies assembly of the fastener member with theapertured panel since the shoulder 126 may first be hooked beneath thepanel and then the assembly may be completed merely by pressing inwardlyon the fastener until the wing member 38g snaps beneath the panel. Thefact that there is only one resilient wing member assures properalignment of the shank and the abutment portion 110g with the apertureof the panel at all times since the fastener is positively locatedWithin the aperture by the surface of the abutment means adjacent theshoulder 126.

FIG. 5 shows a fastener member 20h which incorporates modifications ofthe structures shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 as indicated by the applicationto corresponding elements of identical reference numerals with thesutfix h added or substituted. In this embodiment the means 110 or 110gof the above described embodiments has been omitted and has beenreplaced by a flange or abutment portion 128 on the flexible wing member38h, which flange or abutment portion 128 is adapted to engage a side ofthe panel aperture. Thus, the fastener 20h may be especially useful whenit is to be applied to apertures of varying sizes. As will be seen byreferring to the drawings, the clamping section 100i: is generallysimilar to the above described clamping section 100 except that theshape of the section 100k has been slightly modified to adapt it,especially for receiving a relatively large electric cable 120k.

FIG. 6 discloses still another modified form of the present inventionwhich is essentially identical to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2as indicated by the application to corresponding elements of identicalreference numerals with the suflfix i added. The embodiment of FIG. 6differs only in that the clamping section 100i is joined to the base981' of the head portion along a relatively sharp corner section 130 andin that the base 98i is curved so that the concave side thereof facesthe shank portion. The relatively sharp corner section 130 serves tostiffen the clamping section 100i for more aggressive and more positiveengagement of the workpiece held thereby and the curved formation of thebase 98i serves to insure that the ends of the flexible wing members 36iand 38i will always be resiliently urged into engagement with theapertured panel regardless of any slight variations in the thickness ofthe panel to which the fastener is applied.

From the above description it is seen that the present invention hasprovided a novel one piece plastic fastener or anchor member which fullysatisfies the objects heretofore set forth. More specifically, it isseen that the present invention has provided a novel one piece plasticfastener member which may be easily snapped into assembled relationshipwith an apertured panel and which is adapted to be assembled with panelshaving various thicknesses and having apertures of various dimensions.It is also seen that the present invention has provided fastener membersof relatively simple construction so that they may be economically madewith simple split die means and without requiring an undue amount ofstock material.

While the preferred embodiment of the present invention have been shownand described herein, it is obvious that many structural details may bechanged without departing from the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A one-piece plastic anchor member comprising a head portioninterconnectable with a member, and an axially extending shank portionprojecting from said head portion and adapted to be inserted through anaperture in a workpiece panel, said head portion including a sectionextending laterally from an integral junction with said shank portionfor overlying one side of the panel and a securing member extendingforwardly from said section for relatively connecting said anchor memberand a part to be associated therewith, said shank portion including acentrally relatively rigid axially' extending element having transversedimensions less than corresponding dimensions of said aperture,resilient Wing means, and abutment means adjacent said head portion andhaving a transverse dimension greater than a corresponding transversedimension of said element for engagement with a wall of said panelaperture for restraining lateral shifting of the anchor member withinthe aperture, said resilient wing means comprising a wing memberintegrally connected with an entering end of said shank element andflaring from said entering end of the shank element and generally towardsaid head portion and in laterally spaced relationship to one side ofsaid shank element for flexing inwardly toward said laterally spacedshank element during insertion of the shank portion through theapertured panel and then springing outwardly for engaging an oppositeside of the panel and cooperating with the head portion to retain theanchor member in assembled relationship with the panel, said Wing memberincluding a panel engageable surface extending transversely thereofsubstantially at a free end thereof and facing said head portion andhaving a predetermined width in the direction of said flexing movement,and said free end of said wing member normally being spaced laterallyoutwardly from said one side of the shank element a distance similar tosaid predetermined width of said panel engageable surface so as tofacilitate flexing of the wing member sufliciently to enable the panelengageable surface to be snapped beneath the panel.

2.. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 1, wherein saidshank element includes shoulder means on a side thereof opposite fromsaid one side of the shank element and disposed for engaging saidopposite side of the panel when the fastener member is assembled withthe panel.

3. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 1, wherein saidwing means includes a pair of oppositely disposed wing membersintegrally interconnected with opposite sides of an entering end portionof the shank element and flaring outwardly from and in laterally spacedrelationship to said shank element.

4. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 1, wherein saidabutment means comprises a rigid enlargement of the shank portion forengaging opposite sides of a panel aperture to positively locate thefastener within the aperture and to absorb any shear stresses applied tothe fastener.

5. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 1, wherein saidhead portion securing member includes resilient extension means forclamping and retaining a workpiece.

6. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 5, wherein saidresilient extension means projects generally laterally for overlyingsaid one side of the panel and is looped away from and then generallytoward said shank for clamping a workpiece against the panel. 7 I

7. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 5, wherein saidhead portion including said resilient extension means is in the form ofa generally U-shaped clamp for securing between the legs thereof aworkpiece.

8. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 7, wherein one legof said generally U-shaped clamp is engageable with the panel, and asecond leg of the generally U-shaped clamp is provided by said resilientextension means and is joined to said one leg by a relatively sharpcorner section which serves to stiffen said second leg.

9. A one piece plastic fastener, as defined in claim 7, wherein one legof said generally U-shaped clamp is engageable with the panel, andwherein said one leg is curved, with a concave side thereof facingtoward the shank so that, upon application of the fastener to the panel,said one leg serves to resiliently draw said wing means against saidopposite side of the panel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSMcDonald Aug. 14, 1917 King Nov. 26, 1929 Tinnerman Nov. 27, 1934 SchanzApr. 23, 1935 Hall Nov. 17, 1936 Lombard Aug. 23, 1938 Hall May 11, 1943FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1896 Great Britain Jan. 7, 1932 GreatBritain Mar. 3, 1948 Germany Aug. 4, 1952

